NAIROBI, September 16- The Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) has uncovered an alleged counterfeit maize flour repackaging operation in Kasarani, Nairobi, leading to the arrest of seven suspects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The operation was discovered after detectives, acting on intelligence, raided a godown believed to be involved in the repackaging and distribution of maize flour using labels resembling those of popular brands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
During the raid, officers recovered 3,682 packets of a popular maize flour brand valued at approximately Ksh312,120. Hundreds of additional packets bearing the names of three other well-known flour brands were also seized, bringing the estimated value of the counterfeit products to hundreds of thousands of shillings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A lorry that was being loaded with the products was impounded alongside industrial processing and packaging equipment, weighing machines, bag-sealing tools, and date and batch-marking stamps. According to the DCI, the items pointed to an organised repackaging operation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Detectives also found discarded one-kilogram packaging that closely resembled the branding of one of the affected companies. The DCI noted that the company does not manufacture maize flour in one-kilogram packets, raising suspicions that the packaging was being used to imitate its products.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Representatives of the affected brands are expected to assist with further verification, while the Anti-Counterfeit Authority has joined the investigation to sample and analyse the recovered flour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The crackdown comes amid concerns over food safety and a projected maize shortage in Kenya. The government has announced plans to import maize from Zambia following poor harvests attributed to prolonged drought. The DCI said investigations into the alleged syndicate were ongoing and reaffirmed its commitment to combating counterfeit trade and protecting consumers from potentially harmful products.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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NAIROBI, September 16- The Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) has uncovered an alleged counterfeit maize flour repackaging operation in Kasarani, Nairobi, leading to the arrest of seven suspects. The operation was discovered after detectives, acting on intelligence, raided a godown believed to be involved in the repackaging and distribution of maize flour using labels resembling those of popular brands. During the raid, officers recovered 3,682 packets of a popular maize flour brand valued at approximately Ksh312,120. Hundreds of additional packets bearing the names of three other well-known flour brands were also seized, bringing the estimated value of the counterfeit products to hundreds of thousands of shillings. A lorry that was being loaded with the products was impounded alongside industrial processing and packaging equipment, weighing machines, bag-sealing tools, and date and batch-marking stamps. According to the DCI, the items pointed to an organised repackaging operation. Detectives also found discarded one-kilogram packaging that closely resembled the branding of one of the affected companies. The DCI noted that the company does not manufacture maize flour in one-kilogram packets, raising suspicions that the packaging was being used to imitate its products. Representatives of the affected brands are expected to assist with further verification, while …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4205,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[22,26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4204","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health","category-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.moradiofm.co.ke\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4204","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.moradiofm.co.ke\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.moradiofm.co.ke\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.moradiofm.co.ke\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.moradiofm.co.ke\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4204"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.moradiofm.co.ke\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4204\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4206,"href":"https:\/\/news.moradiofm.co.ke\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4204\/revisions\/4206"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.moradiofm.co.ke\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4205"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.moradiofm.co.ke\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4204"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.moradiofm.co.ke\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4204"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.moradiofm.co.ke\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4204"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}